The hummingbird and the storm

The aerodynamics of a tiny bird in high winds

Ah, hummingbirds. What’s not to love?

Humans have been marvelling at these tiny creatures for eons, baffled by their fascinating ability to hover and their stunning wing speed. For quite some time, it was thought that hummingbirds had flight dynamics closer to that of insects. Even with decades of analysis with high speed cameras, it was only relatively recently that high-tech analysis began to reveal how hummingbirds accomplish their unique aerodynamic trick.

Hummingbirds weigh between 2 and 20 grams, most less than 5 grams. And this poses another interesting problem: how do hummingbirds contend so well with rain and strong winds? It’s a question that points to a significant gap in our knowledge about flying animals in general: we just don’t know that much about the mechanisms they use to handle complex changes in air flow.